Lughnasadh Thanksgiving Ritual

I know that I am a little late in posting a Lughnasadh ritual but as I am working on my Book of Shadows, I wanted to share this one. So save it til next year.

A Lughnasadh Thanksgiving

Needed:

Gold God Candle
Silver Goddess Candle
Handmade Loaf of bread
Offering plate
Wand

Cast Circle (any way that your tradition calls for)

Invoke quarters (however your tradition call for)

Invite/invoke Goddess and God;

Light Goddess Candle, say: “Great Mother Goddess, Goddess of the Moon, the Waters and the Earth. Today I honor the Grain Goddess. She weakens as the days are growing short. She is Demeter, and She is the Moon Goddess, I invite you into my circle”

Light God Candle, Say: “Glorious Father god, God of the Sun, the Forests, and the Mountains. Today I honor the Corn King, and give Him thanks for His yearly sacrifice. He is Lugh, and He is the Sun God. I invite you into my circle”

Pick up wand, say; “I come forth with wand in hand and dance upon the Goddess' Land to mark the turning of the year Lughnasadh now is here!"

“Blessed be this season of Lughnasadh and the bounty of the First Harvest,

Fruit of the womb of the Mother -
Blessed be Mother Earth,
Blessed be Father God!”

Place hands over your heart and say,

"I am grateful for so many things which our gracious Lord and Lady have bestowed upon me. Our Lord has generously given us His light and protection at Midsummer so that our loving Lady could bless us with Her essence once again."

Pick up the loaf of bread and say;

"I will count my many blessings on this sabbat of bounty."

Hold the loaf of bread and recite all the many things that you are thankful for. When finished, break off a piece and take a bite. Then place the loaf back on the altar while saying,

"Blessed be the fruitful Mother,
Blessed be the God of the Harvest!"

Break off another piece and place it on a plate to give back to the Earth after ritual, say;

"I give this bounty of the land back to our Mother Earth and Her consort and ask that it be shared with the Faeries of the Fields and the animals of the woodland -
Offerings given in love return three-fold,
Blessed be this gift."

Release Goddess and God, say;

"I am a child of deity,

I am part of the creative life force which moves the Universe;
I am part of all that is.
Though we are apart, we are ever together –
Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again -
Blessed be!"

Release quarters

Close circle

Place offering plate outside.

Share the remaining bread with your family at meals; be thankful for all that is around you.  


Blessed Be

g

Book of Shadows

Working on my Book of Shadows. Since my Patron Goddess is Athena, my book is adorned with an owl and filled with magical words and workings.
Have you written yours?? What does it look like? It is best to hand write your book. But if you are the computer type you can use your computer. But it is best to handwrite your spells, they say it puts that much more heart into your magic.

I have researched what should be in your Book of Shadows. There are many different sites out there with words of advice and structure and such, but what I found was, Make your book yours! What feels right is what should be in your book.

Here is just a sample of my structure (so far), just an outline;



Again, what ever feels right, put that in your book.

Blessed Be

g

A virtual Halloween Party

Something Magical is in the works and I will be a part of the delight!

It will be a time of Witchy fun! This will be my first virtual party ever and I am so thrilled!!!

You can join the fun too! Simply click on the picture and visit the wonderful site of "A Fanciful Twist". Her site is beautiful and inspiring and a wonder to behold.

I am off to start planning my Halloween fun.

Blessed Be

g

Something wicked this way comes...

My favorite sabbat is just around the corner!!

Samhain (pronounced Sow-een, Sow-in, sah-ven, sa-ween or for some even Sam-hayne) is a cross quarter marking the halfway point between the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice. "Samhain" or "Samhuinn" is Celtic meaning "Summer's End", it marks the end of the growing season, the beginning of the Celtic Winter (the Celtic peoples lived with two seasons, Summer and Winter).

Also known as the Witches' New Year, this is when the God symbolically dies (to be reborn at Yule) and the Goddess enters her Crone phase, we (in the Northern Hemisphere) are entering the dark half of the year.

Rememberance is the keyword here, we remember and honor the by animals, plants and the earth who provided us our nourishment and sustained for the last year. We also remember our loved ones who have passed as the *veil* between here and the spirit world is thin.

It is also a night for divination, many scry for their year ahead.

There is much planning for me to do for this years festivities and I am very excited. To start, here are two wonderful incense recipes to try.

Samhain Incense

3 Parts Frankincense
2 parts Myrrh
1 Part Rosemary
1 Part Cedar
1 Part Juniper

Crush all ingredients together until ground to a fine paste, its best to use a Mortar and Pestle for this if you have one available. Burn upon lit charcoal blocks within a fire proof container.

SOURCE: unknown

Samhain Incense 2

3 parts Rosemary
3 parts Pine
3 parts Bay
3 parts Apple
2 drops Patchouli Oil

SOURCE: unknown

Blessed Be

g

All moved over...

Well, that didn't take too long. I guess blogger has fixed the copy/paste function. Or I am better at this that I was the first time around.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new site and visit often.

Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.

Blessed Be.

g

Forgotten Password

So I have tried everything I could think of to access my original blog, www.gracefuldawn.blogspot.com but alas I can not...So I am moving it over here.

Soon I will have all the information moved over here, but it will take a while, so please be patient.

Stayed tuned for more about my journey down my chosen path.

Blessed Be

Grayce